Images posted on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, showed a toddler lying on a table in what appeared to be an office, badly bruised and with blood pouring from her head as a woman cried at her side. Her father confirmed that the family took the girl’s body to a local government office to protest to officials.

“We live in the developing zone and they wanted to acquire our land,” Mr. Hong claimed. “We haven’t settled a compensation agreement, and they killed my daughter with a bulldozer.”

Yes, the girl died. But she was accidentally killed by the bulldozer when they were flattening the [adjacent] land

Local officials and police denied that the family home was the target of demolition by developers.

“There’s no demolition. Yes, the girl died. But she was accidentally killed by the bulldozer when they were flattening the [adjacent] land as she sneaked into the building site and played there,” said an official at the Zhangpu district office.

The speed at which China’s urbanization is being carried out can result in entire villages being uprooted to make way for industry and housing developments – often with the help of corrupt officials and police.

Legislators have passed a series of regulations in recent years to protect land rights, including outlawing the use of violence during evictions and stipulating that market rate compensation must be paid to relocated residents.

Amnesty International has said violent forced evictions are increasing in China, with the victims often beaten, incarcerated or even killed at the hands of authorities.